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| FUDR FOLLOW-UP ON UPPER DELAWARE RIVER PROPOSAL
To The Editor FUDR’s plan to protect the wild trout fishery on the Upper Delaware and to mitigate flood damage to down stream residents and property owners has come under attack. The argument made by its opponents is that it will use too much water thereby exposing the system to drought related curtailments. In this letter, we bring to your attention a number of points that we think invalidate our critics’ argument. First, it must be recognized that for some 25 years (through the first part of the current decade), summer time releases from Cannonsville averaged over 640 cfs. Most years, this regime resulted in no drought watch let alone warning or an actual drought condition. To those who point out that “average” figures ignore the fact that on some days each summer much higher releases were required to meet the Montague flow target, we note that the very large releases now to be seen during July and August from the PPL project on the Lackawaxan will reduce peak demands from Cannonsville thereby making “average” releases much closer to “high releases” than was the case during the 25 year period discussed above. Second, from its inauguration, FUDR has maintained that the drought curves used by the authorities to regulate the River and to evaluate flow management plans are unduly conservative, a conclusion confirmed by the USGS. Third, The OASIS model employed by the DRBC to study flow/release proposals had been subject to criticism and the algorithms employed assume that New York City will use the full 800 million gallons of water per day as permitted under the Supreme Court decree rather than the 450-480 million gallons actually being used by the City. Fourth, drought calculations as presently made give no effect to the to the Rondout Reservoir. Rondout (supplied in large part by diversions from the Cannonsville, Pepacton and Neversink Reservoirs) holds approximately 50 billion gallons of water – equal to about 7 weeks of NYC consumption. The Reservoir is normally kept close to full but is not counted when calculations are made to determine the Catskill drought situation. Fifth, during at least one drought “emergency” in the Catskills, when Cannonsville was virtually drained dry, NYC residents were still allowed to spray their sidewalks and the baseball diamonds in Central Park continued to get the water they needed. These matters are ignored or brushed aside by those who attack FUDR’s plan, but they must be recognized if a satisfactory and fair management program is to be instituted. FUDR has never denied that in very dry years, problems with any plan will develop. However, we have argued that in most years our plan will not adversely impact any of the Rivers users and when drought is truly a danger, all users should be asked to make some concessions. Sandy Bing The FUDR Plan provides real relief for real people; a graduated release, more cold water when there is plenty of water to give and less when the water levels in the reservoirs are reduced without jeopardizing any of the users rights. What could be simpler! See the FUDR Plan at www.FUDR.org. The Executive Committee Friends of the Upper Delaware River Dan Plummer, Chairman And Executive Committee Friends of the Upper Delaware River |
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| FUDR :: 1148 5th St., New York, NY 10128:: email: catskilldan@mac.com :: 607-363-2001 | ||||||||||||